


zelgius is waiting

by Rethira



Category: Fire Emblem Series, Fire Emblem: Soen no Kiseki/Akatsuki no Megami | Fire Emblem Path of Radiance/Radiant Dawn
Genre: Amputation, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-20
Updated: 2016-02-20
Packaged: 2018-05-22 01:56:55
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 666
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6066301
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rethira/pseuds/Rethira
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“He’s still alive,” Soren murmurs, sounding mildly impressed.</p>
            </blockquote>





	zelgius is waiting

**Author's Note:**

> so totally forgot i wrote this

It’s Elincia who notices first – they’re a tired, worn group making their way down the Tower, and maybe it’s been foolish to let their attention wander but there’s nothing left here to hurt them.

Or so they thought.

Elincia gasps, and points and-

“He’s still alive,” Soren murmurs, sounding mildly impressed.

Zelgius stirs at the sound of Soren’s voice; his left hand is still clasped over the stump of his right arm, blood still oozing sluggishly around the ragged binding, but yes. He’s alive. Aware and alive. After a moment or two, Zelgius’ eyes meet Ike’s, even over the distance separating them.

Ike’s fingers tighten, briefly, on Ragnell’s hilt.

But then Micaiah is walking past him, staff in her hand and Sanaki hurrying in her footsteps. They pull the tattered bandage from his arm, force Zelgius’ hand from his wound – Sanaki hisses, and looks over at Ike for a moment – and then Micaiah begins to pour magic into it.

Soren huffs beside Ike. “He doesn’t deserve it,” he mutters, too softly for anyone but Ike to hear.

“You don’t have to help,” Ike replies, before saying, louder, “it looks like we’re taking a break. Rest if you need it. Don’t wander off.”

It’s not an order he really needs to give. Everyone here knows what to do with themselves. They wouldn’t be here if they didn’t.

Ike gives Zelgius one last look, then deliberately turns his back on him.

 

The noise, when it comes, is unexpected.

The first of Kurthnaga’s dragons have just descended, following behind Nasir and Gareth and carrying Sephiran’s body on a pallet between them.

But sound doesn’t carry well in the Tower, and it’s been oddly quiet since they settled here – Micaiah and Sanaki bent around Zelgius, murmuring to each other softly, while everyone else held their own counsel. Even Naesala, who usually ran his mouth, had held his tongue.

But as Nasir and Gareth move aside, and a pair of red dragons carefully manoeuvre Sephiran’s body down the final few steps, a great and terrible noise rends the air.

It’s like no sound Ike’s ever heard before.

Everyone freezes. Beorc hands fly for their weapons, while laguz drop into protective crouches, ready to spring into action at a moment’s notice.

But no attack comes.

There is a creak, the strain of armour. “You mustn’t move!” Micaiah says, and Ike whirls to find her pushing ineffectively at Zelgius’ shoulders, trying to force him down again.

He pushes her aside as if she’s nothing, and if his face was white before then that was nothing compared to it now. He’s staring at Sephiran’s body as if... as if nothing else exists in the world.

“No,” Zelgius breathes, and then he’s across the room, faster than Ike expected, blood still dripping from his shoulder. The dragon laguz go still, unsure, but Zelgius hardly seems aware of them – he falls to his knees, reaches out with his shaking left hand and-

He hadn’t screamed when Ike had cut off his arm. Ragnell had sheared through armour, flesh and bone, and Zelgius had fallen back, the breath knocked out of him. His arm had hit the floor with a thump, and Alondite with it. But he hadn’t cried out. He hadn’t screamed. He’d pressed his left hand over that bloody right stump, and he’d barely made a sound.

He screams now. He screams as if the very beating heart of him has been torn out of his chest. Great heaving sobs wrack him bodily; in one sweeping movement, he gathers Sephiran’s body against his and Ike feels suddenly sick watching this, and has to look away.

Soren’s pale faced beside him, hands white on his tome. “You should have killed him,” he says.

Ike glances back, to where Sanaki is laying her hand gently on Zelgius’ shoulder and Micaiah is tutting and finally weaving red, raw flesh over the gaping bloody wound that was Zelgius’ arm. Zelgius is still weeping.

“Yeah,” Ike says, “I should have.”


End file.
